Calcium Reactor question

[lostmyz]

I have a 72gal bow front with a 29gal sump. I have a Korallin Ca Reactor C-1502 and I am looking to install it into my system. I have two pumps currently in my sump....

1) An aqueon 2500 that goes in parallel to my UV Sterilizer and my Dual Stage BRS reactor (drains back into the sump). After the UV sterilizer it runs in series to my Chiller (I wanted to do all parallel but couldn't get the piping to work) and drains back into the sump

2) My return is a Mag 9.5

My question is...

1) will I be able to tap into my mag 9.5 return to feed water into the Ca Reactor (I think it might be too much flow to it personally but i had to ask)?
2) can i tap into one of my two returns to the sump to feed the reactor?
3) do i need to get another pump for this reactor (i have a maxijet 1200 and a mag 3 but I'd rather not put another pump in and use more electricity and besides those two pumps are gawd awful loud!)

Thank You

 

[swannyson7]

You should be able to feed off of a manifold from the Mag9.5 and just put a gate valve (or a ball valve, although these can be a bit more inconsistent for water flow IIRC) to restrict the flow. FWIW, if you want a cheap, quiet solution you could feed the CaRx with an aqualifter pump.

 

[gilmour01]

Tap the return pump line and use a ball or gate valve to control the flow to the reactor.

 

[lostmyz]

FWIW? I have a Tom's Aqualifter and i used to use it for top off on my old BioCube and it would clog up and not work more than have the time. Ever 4 days i had to check it out. Maybe thats because i had it moving water up 2ft. and turning on and off but. They scare me!

My return i already have ball valves about half way it was too much even with the head for my glass-holes.com 700gph overflow box

 

[swannyson7]

I used an Aqualifter on my CaRx for about 6 months with no issue. Back when I used one for an overflow box to maintain the siphon I had constant problems with it, but I think it was attributed more to the constant algae growth inside the airline tubing. With a constant flow of water (and the fact that it was being used on a ULNS), there weren't any problems with algae growth inside the tubing. I just swapped out the airline tubing every couple months to prevent any problems.

 

[adw]

Did you have a prefilter on the aqualifter. I've had one running on the 1502 for ages with no issues.

 

[Bluejawtrigger]

Remember if tapping into the manifold, have a separate back flow valve. People don't rink about it, but it will back syphon. I was going to run mine off the manifold. Opted for an aqua lifter pump. I wanted to match the feed with the out go. And not take the chance of back syphon.